NQ Photography student at Glasgow Kelvin College, Haneen Hadiy, impressed a notable audience with her skills and her passion at this year’s Peace & Unity Conference in the City Chambers recently.

Sharing a podium with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Haneen presented a video she had produced on a recent visit to Iraq which candidly highlights the devastation of war and its impact on children and families.

17yr old Haneen has extended family living in the south of Iraq and visits often but has been heartbroken by the destruction of what she has seen in the war-torn city of Al-Diwaniyah.

She was so deeply saddened at what she describes as the ‘loss of hope’ evident in the residents that she began fundraising and has to date been able to provide donations to ten families in the neighbourhood. Using her photographic skills, she took portraits of her family and friends who bought her work and she has raised enough to provide around £350 to each of ten families who are suffering from the effects of war.

On her most recent visit, she shot the video of local children and the conditions they were having to endure. She found this very difficult and emotional but was able to remain strong and positive to capture the best of the children she was filming.

Real interest has been generated by her appearance at the Conference and her passionate presentation received a standing ovation. Her proud mum was in the audience to witness her triumph. The reaction Haneen received has spurred her on to try and raise funds to help more families in the devastated town to try and rebuild their lives.

The Photography department at Glasgow Kelvin’s Springburn Campus will also be holding fundraising events in the near future.

Haneen is a remarkable young woman with a promising talent and her hard working tutors are looking forward to working with her to showcase her skills. She is pictured here with some of her excellent photographic work.